The invention relates to a switch arrangement having at least one switching element and one operating member.
Such switch arrangements are used by the user to select functions on electric appliances. Such electric appliances may be domestic appliances, such as washing machines, dryers, dishwashers or the like.
DE 195 03 702 A1 discloses such a switch arrangement having a housing. An inner housing, which is encapsulated and sealed on all sides and in which switching elements are arranged, is located in the housing interior. Operating members are arranged on the housing in order to act on the switching elements in the sense of operating them. The inner housing has a wall in the form of a membrane, which is arranged between the switching elements and the operating members. The operating members act on the switching elements via the wall which is in the form of a membrane and is elastic in the movement direction of the operating members.
The wall in the form of a membrane on the inner housing thus acts as an elastic sealing element between the operating member and the switching element, preventing the ingress of contaminants, such as water, dust or the like, into the housing interior of the switch arrangement. However, manufacture of the inner housing is very complex. Furthermore, the switching elements must be introduced into the inner housing during the actual process of manufacturing it. It is no longer possible to change the number of switching elements retrospectively. It has thus been found to be disadvantageous that the known switch arrangement is not very flexible and cannot easily be adapted to different appliance configurations.